Apparatus for saturation of fibrous material



March 7, 1944. WEIMANN APPARATUS FOR SATURATION OF FIBROUS MATERIAL 'Original Filed March 9, 1940 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 W/fA/ESS:

March 7, 1944. A. .F. WEIMANN APPARATUS FOR SATURATION OF FIBROUS MATERIAL Original Filed March 9 1940 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 i Q A March 7, 1944. A. F. WEIMANN APPARATUS FOR SATURATION OF FIBROUS MATERIAL Original Filed March 9, 1940 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Mar h 7, 1944- A. F. WEIMANN APPARATUS FOR SATURATION OF FI BROUS MATERIAL Original Filed March 9 1940 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 aux-4 HHHH d 3A!! Qw w aivnlnl Patented Mar. 7, 1944 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,343,601 I APPARATUS FOR SATURATION or FIBROUS MATERIAL Alfred F. Weimann, Shelton, Conn., assignor to Barber Asphalt Corporation, Barber, N. J., a corporation of New Jersey Original application March 9, 1940, Serial No.

323,159. Divided and thisapplication September 19, 1941, Serial No. 411,464

5 Claims. (Cl. 154-29) This invention relates to an improved method for the saturation of fibrous material, and to apparatus for carrying out the said method.

The improved method in accordance with this invention comprises impregnatin a mass of organic or inorganic fibres loosely formed into mats or bats with a saturant in liquid form, the

amount of saturant employed being only sufiicient to partially saturate the bat; reducing the size of the bat, as by compression, to an extent sufficient to cause the saturant carried thereby to saturate completely th reduced bat; and simultaneously with, or immediately following, such reduction, altering the physical characteristics'of the saturant, as by a change in temperature, so that the fibres are locked in position thereby and the product will retain its reduced form.

The fibrous material treated in accordance with this invention may comprise a mass of organic fibres, as, for example, Balsam wool,

alpha cellulose fibres, licorice root fibres, jute fibres, animal hair; or the likeyor of inorganic fibres, as glass fibres, in the form of glass wool or" spun glass, rock wool, slag wool, asbestos fibres, or the like. The fibres will be formed, by conventional methods, into loosely formed mats or bats, which for treatment in accordance with this invention, need not possess any substantial tensile strength.

As a preferred material for treatment in accordance with this invention, glass wool in various commercial forms may be used. As is Well known, glass wool is produced by flowing molten.

glass through small orifices, and blowing a; stream or jet of air or steam across the orifices to solidify and carry off glass fibres, which are deposited as a loose mat on a continuous beltxconveyor. The mat or bat so formed maybe sprayed while still hot with a lubricant, as, for example, lubricating oil, light consistency asphalts, as emulsified asphalt, in order to lubricate the glass fibres and so insure that they slip over each other and that undue breakage in subsequent handling of the batis avoided. I I

If the met or bat of glass wool isintended for use in accordance with this invention, it may be annealed following its formation so as to rencordance with this invention may comprise a thermoplastic material, such as, for example, a bitumen, as asphalt, a resin, as coumar resin, 9. pitch,'a wax, as montan wax, etc., any of which may be put in liquid formeither by being melted or by being dissolved in a suitable solvent; a cellulose ester or ether, a's cellulose acetate, benzyl cellulose, which may be, used in solution in a suitable solvent; or a thermosetting material, as, for example, various phenol-aldehyde condensation products, polyvinyl resins, methyl methacrylate polymers, urea condensation products, polystyrene resins, vulcanized rubber,- etc., any of which may be used in accordance with this invention by effecting partial saturation of the fibrous bat with the desired saturant while it is in a stage prior to final condensation or polymerization, and thus is, or can be put, in liquid form with the aid of solvents or emulsification, if necessary. The various thermoplastic or thermosetting materials used as saturants may be plasticized with any, suitable plasticizer lmown to the art.

In proceeding in accordance with this invention' the, bat of loosely formed fibrous material,

der the glass fibres more flexible, and thus permit compression of the bat during treatment without extensive breakage of the'fibres.

The'saturant used in accordance with this invention may compris any thermoplastic or thermosetting-material which can, at some stage, be put in liquid form. Thus, the saturant in acas, for example, glass wool, will be brought into contact with the desired saturant in liquid form and permitted to absorb a quantity of saturant sufficient to saturate it completely when. it has been compressed orreduced in size to the desired extent, but which in its uncompressed state will only partially saturate it. The partially saturated bat will then be compressed, if desired, to-

gether with other partially saturated, or wholly unsaturated, bats, until it has been reduced to the desired thickness. Thus, a single bat 2 inches thick, or two bats each 1 inch thick, may be compressed to form a sheet 1 inch thick. The reduced or compressed bats will be substantially completely saturated with saturant, due to the decrease in volume of the bats, and will be treated either simultaneously with, or immediately following, their reduction so as to set the 'satsurface of a stream of molten asphalt, flowing at the same rate as the rate of travel of the bat of glass wool so as to avoid tearing the bat, which has substantially no tensile strength; causing the bat to be somewhat more deeply immersed for an instant in a pool of molten asphalt, whereby it is only partially saturated; and compressing and chilling the impregnated bat so as to effect complete saturation and solidify the asphalt. The nature and purpose of this invention having now been indicated in a general way, a detailed description of a preferred form of apparatus according to this invention will be given, in connection with the description of the operation of'which the details of a preferred method according to this invention where a batof, for example, glass wool is to be saturated with a molten thermoplastic material, as asphalt, will be made apparent; all with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: a

Figure 1 is a plan view showing a portion 'of a preferred embodiment of apparatus according to this invention, certain elements being eliminated for clarity.

Figures 1A and 1B are side elevations which taken together show a complete apparatus according to this invention.

Figure 2 is a sectional, view showing details of construction of the saturating element included in the apparatus shown in Figures 1, 1A and 1B. Figure 3 is a sectional view showing a detail of construction of the saturating element shownin Figure .2.

Figure 4 is a perspective view, partly in section, showing detail of construction of the saturant nozzle included in the saturating element shown in Figure 2.

Figure 5 is a perspective view of a portion of fibre bat such as is adapted for use as a starting material in the practice of the method according to this invention.

Figure 6 is a diagrammatic sketch indicating, in perspective a portion of two joined bats of nbrous material, one of which is partially saturated with saturant, prior to compression thereof.

Figure 7 is a diagrammatic sketch, similar to Figure 6, showing the bats substantially completely saturated with saturant following their compression.

Referring more particularly to Figures 1, 1A

and 1B, the form of apparatus shown comprises Beneath the roll A and adapted to receive the bat a: is a belt conveyor 1, which travels in the direction of the arrow and which may be desirably formed of leer cloth. Adjacent the delivery end of conveyor 1 is a metal table 8 extending on a downward slope for the reception of the bat a: from the conveyorand adapted to be heated by a bumer 9 connected with a source of fuel, as gas, by a pipe III. The edge portion of the table 8 remote from the conveyor 1 is bent downwardly to form a lip H, which overhangs an end of a saturant trough I 2 extending on a downward slope and the opposite end portion of which is curved downwardly and then upwardly to form a pool IS. The bottom of the trough i2 is supported in any suitable manner from a main frame l8 and is provided with a jacket H, for a heating medium and a turned-down lip I5 is provided on its end. Beneath the lip H on table 8 is a nozzle I6 for the discharge of saturant into the trough and an overflow pipe 11 leads from the pool I3 for the maintenance of a level of saturant therein. 7

The saturant nozzle l6, shown in detail in Figure 4, comprises a body I! of a length about equal to the width of the saturant trough l2 and provided with a narrow discharge opening 20 and with a jacket 2| for a heating medium. Saturant is supplied to the body l9 of the nozzle through a plurality of spaced pipes 22 leading from a manifold 22' provided with a jacket 23 for a heating medium and connected to any suitable container for a supply of saturant. Pipes 2 are provided for the circulation of a heating medium, as for example, heated oil, from any suitable source, through the jacket 2| of the nozzle I8 'and pipes, 25 are provided for circulation of a heating medium through the jacket 23 of the manifold 22.

As shown in some detail in Figures 2 and 3, a series of three parallel chain conveyors 26 are mounted above the trough I 2 and extend beyond the lip .15, at the end o'fthe trough, into proximity to the cooling roll C. The conveyors 26 run over sprockets 21 carried by shafts 28, one of which is driven, which in turn are mounted on a frame 29 supported for vertical adjustability from the main frame l8. The conveyors are provided with bat-engaging spuds 30, the lower end portions of. which extend backwardly of the forward movement of the conveyor. The lower runs .of the conveyors extend parallel with the bottom of the trough, conform to the bottom of the pool l3 and, beyond the lip l5, extend upwardly to a point in proximity to the periphery of cooling roll C, in a direction tangential thereto. Idler sprockets 3| serve to guide'the upper runs of the conveyors, while the lower rims are guided with reference to the bottom of the trough'and of the pool I 3 by the engagement of rollers 32 with guides 33 supported from the vertically adjustable frame 29.'

Beneath the roll A and adapted to receive the hat 1 is a suitably driven belt conveyor 34,.desirably of leer cloth, which extends to a point adjajacent to the cooling roll C. Spaced above the belt conveyor 34 are a series of spaced, suitably driven belts 35, the lower runs of which extend from beyond the point of contact of the bat y drum C and convey it to the drum C.

4| engaging sprockets 42, 42 on the trunnions.

36' and 36'. The sprockets 42, 42' are of the same size so that the two rolls will travel at .the

same speed. I

Brine, or other cooling medium, contained in a suitabletank and refrigerated by any suitable refrigerating apparatus, is circulated, by a pump. through pipes 43, 43 extending into the rolls C,

,C through the hollow trunnions 36, 36' and con nected with pipe 44 in turn connected with the discharge of the brine pump, return of brine to the brine tank being through pipes 45 extending into the drums through the hollow trunnions at the opposite ends of the drums and connected to a pipe 46 leading to the brine tank. Desirably the surface of the drums C, C will be maintained at a temperature of about 35 F. by a sufiicient circulation of brine refrigerated to a suitable temperature.

Extending longitudinally of the surface of the drum C is a doctor blade 41. The doctor blade in its direction of operation-desirably extends in a direction substantially tangential of the drum. Beneath the doctor blade and extending between the drums is a suitably driven belt'conveyor 48 adapted to receive material doctored from the The conveyor 48 is driven ata lineal speed equal to the peripheral sp d of the drums C and C, which as has been indicated, are driven at the same speed.

Referring now more particularly to Figures 1 and 15, a doctor blade 49- is associated with the cooling drum C and beneath it is a belt conveyor'50 extending at a downward angle to adjacent to the pair of reducing rolls D. The conveyor acts to receive material from the cooling drum C and support and convey it to the pair of rolls D.

The pair of rolls D comprise rolls-|, 52, which are adjustably mounted in a frame 53 extending at an angle to the horizontal. The pass between the rolls 5|, 52 is adjusted to preliminarily compress or reduce the material passing therethrough and is located at a level somewhat lower than the level'of the conveyor 50. A doctor blade 54 is associated with the lower roll 5| and is adapted to free material therefrom,

while a belt conveyor 55 is located beneath the doctor blade and extends downwardly to adjacent the second pair of reducing rolls D The rolls D comprise rolls 56 and 51 adjustably mounted in a frame 56. The rolls 56 and 51 are adjusted closer than are the rolls 5| and 52 for further compression or reduction of ,the material. A doctor blade 59 is associated with the lower roll 56 and a belt conveyor 60, which may be horizontaL'serves to convey the material from the rolls D to the rolls D comprising rolls 60, 6|, which are'the same as the rolls D except that they are adjusted more closely together for further compression or reduction of the material. A doctor blade 63, is associated with the lower roll 6| and a belt conveyor 64, which may be horizontal, serves to carry the material to the rolls D comprising rolls 65 and 66, which are the same as the rolls D and D A doctor blade 61 is associated with the lower roll 65.

The several rolls of the sets of rolls D--D are desirably cooled by a circulation of brine and to such end are mounted on hollow trunnions V connected by piping 58, including a pump 69, with a brine tank I0 containing suitablyrefrigerated brine.

The several sets of rolls D-D may be driven in any suitable manner. Thus, the sets of rolls D, D may be driven through sprockets H, II secured to the trunnions of the lower rolls 5| and 56 and connected by a chain 12, a sprocket I3 driven by a chain 14 from a suitable'prime mover being connected to the trunnion of roll 5| and the rolls 5|, 52 and 56, 51 being geared together by gearing 15, 16, respectively. The rolls D and D may be driven in a similar manner from driven shaft 11 through bevel gears 86, sprockets I8 and chains 19. The driven shaft 11 may also serve to drive the conveyors 60 and 64 through bevel gears and belts or chains 8|.

In operation of the apparatus described the hat a: of, for example, glass wool,- is fed on to and over the table 8 by the action of a conveyor I, which frictionally engages the under surface I flames from the burner 9, so as to be annealed. The bat a: then passes off over the lip ll of the table 8 and drops a slight distance on to the surface of a moving stream I60 of molten saturant issuing from the nozzle l6 on to the surface of the saturating trough l2. By careful control of the temperature and the pressure head upon the molten saturant issuing from the nozzle I6, the rate of travel of the stream Hill is made to coincide exactly with the rate of travel of the bat, so that no shearing action which would tend to break or tear the bat :1: will take place.

The bat x, which has a thickness indicated by the reference character I) in Figure 3 of, for example, inch, sinks into the stream of molten saturant I60 to some extent under the combined influence of capillarity and the slight downward pressure exerted'by the spuds 30 on the conveyors of the conveyor 26 is to cause the hat :1: to move along with the flowing stream [00 rather than to force it to any substantial extent beneath the surface of this stream. As indicated in Figure 3. the bat a: may sink into the stream of molten saturant which will have a depth, indicated by the reference character a, of, for example, inch, to a depth indicated by the broken line 0. Meanwhile, during the progress of the bat x along the saturant trough l2, the molten saturant, by capillaryaction, penetrates the under portion of the bat, as indicated in Figure 3, to an extent indicated by the reference character d. v

'As the bat 1:, already saturated to the extent indicated by the'reference character d, reaches the pool l3 of molten saturant, it is forced by the action of the conveyors 26 more deeply into the molten saturant. as indicated at llll, for a surface of the first cooling roll C. If desired, the

.bat u may be annealed, after leaving the roll A,

in the same manner as bat a: by being passed over a plate heated by a burner. Qn starting up operation it will be necessary to feed the bat y manually from the point at which it leaves conveyor 34 on to the surface of the cooling roll C, and until, as hereinafter described, it has been engaged by the partially impregnated bat x Once this has been accomplished the feed of the bat y will be automatic.

As the bat a: leaves the pool I3 of molten saturant, it draws with it a small quantity of the molten saturant, which consequently spills over the lip i5 and falls, asindicated at I03, on

,to the surface of the hat 1/ carried on the cooling roll C. The continued rotation of the roll C brings the bat-z carrying, as indicated at I02, substantially the entire quantity of molten saturant required for complete saturation of the final product, into contact with the bat y, the upper or contacting surface of which has been, as it were, sprinkled with molten saturant. As a result the two bats are cemented together by the molten saturant along the line z, and from that point continue through the process as a single sheet or bat of material.

The combined bats :cand Z! are carried on coold within the scope of this invention, which is not ing roll C and thence over cooling roll C, as indicated in Figures 1A and 1B, and are finally removed from the-cooling rolls by the doctor blade 49. a

In the passage over the cooling rolls C, C, the temperature of the molten saturant carried by the combined bats a: and y is substantially reduced and any saturant approaching, under the combined influence of capillarity and pressure,

. the surface of the cooling rolls is congealed. As a result, a skin of congealed saturant is, in effect, formed within the bat and serves to prevent loss of saturant from the bats and consequent adhesion to the rolls, but the main body of saturant within the bats is not lowered to a temperature suiflcient to render it non-fluid.

The combined bats :z: and y carrying the saturant, which, as indicated, has been surface cooled to an extent to cause the formation of a skin, are then passed through the press rolls D, D D and D and thereby reduced to the desired thickness. At the same time, the saturant cools to an extent sufficient to bind the fibres of the compressed bats in their final form so that upon issuing from the rolls D the product will no longer expand after release of the pressure.

In the passage of the combined bats through the press rolls, the reduction will preferably be accomplished in steps, each successive pair of rolls D, D, D', D being set closer together, so as to prevent undue breakage of the glass fibres which may occur if complete reduction is attempted in a single step. In such step by,step reduction, a partial and temporary expansion may occur between passes as the pressure is released.

The nature of the material while passing over the cooling rolls C, C' is indicated in Figure 6, in which sand 11 indicate the respective bats, I02 indicates the absorbed saturant, and z indicates the plane of Junction of thetwo bats; The final product issuing from-the last press rolls D is shown in Figure 7, in which the reference characters 1,1! and z have been retained to indicate the constituent parts of the product; It is to be -understood, however, that in the final product 1 no such separation into constituent partsis possible, and that the final product rather comprises a unitary mass of fibrous material comof brine, and that such heated rolls may precede other similar cooled rolls. In other cases it may be desirable to effect the cooling or heating simultaneously with compression of the fibrous material, in which case the press rolls, .as D, D D, D may be heated or cooled, as the case may be, or, if' desired, the press rolls may precede rather than follow the cooling rolls.

It will be understood that the words liquid and "solid and terms derived therefrom are used in this description and in the claims hereinafter set forth, not in any narrow technical sense, but rather in a relative sense; and that 'where plastic materials are concerned they may limited to the particular details of mechanism and procedure hereinbefore set forth, but,i's directed broadly to the invention herein described as set out in the following claims.

This application is a division of application filed by me Serial No. 323,159, filed March 9, 1940.

What I claim and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

1. Apparatus for the saturation of fibrous material which comprises, in combination, means containing a flowing stream of saturant, means for moving a hat of loosely formed fibrous material into partial submergence in, along with and away from said stream of saturant to obtain a partial saturation of the bat and means for compressing the partially saturated bat to reduce its thickness and complete its saturation.

2. Apparatus for saturating'flbrous material comprising, in combination, means for creating a shallow flowing stream of a saturant, means for feeding a hat of loosely formed fibrous material onto the surface of and along with said flowing stream, means for arresting temporarily the fiow of said stream, whereby a pool of saturant is formed, means adapted to cause saidbat to travel at least partly beneath the surface of said pool for a predetermined interval, whereby the bat is partially saturated and means for compressing the partially saturated bat.

3. Apparatus for the saturation of fibrous ma-- duce their thickness and effect their uniform saturation. I

4. Apparatus for saturating fibrous material which comprises, in combination, a nozzle adapted to discharge a wide, thin stream of molten asphalt, means for\feeding a bat of loosely formed fibrous material onto the surface of ,the

shallow stream of flowing molten asphalt at a rate substantially that of the rate of flow of said stream, whereby the said bat is floated on the- 1 of molten asphalt is formed, heating means to keep the asphalt in said stream and pool molten, means adapted to cause said bat to travel partly beneath the surface of said pool for a predetermined interval, whereby the bat is saturated with asphalt to less than its full thickness, a revolvable cooling drum, means for circulating a refrigerant through said drum, means including said drum for feeding asecond substantially unsaturated bat of loosely formed fibrous material beneath and in supporting contact with said partially saturated bat, whereby the two bats are cemented together by the asphalt carried by the first bat and pass together over said cooling .drum, andcompression rolls for reducing the thickness of the cemented bat and completing the saturation thereof.

5. Apparatus for the saturation of fibrous material which comprises, in combination, means for applying a saturant to a moving bat of loosely formed flbrousimateri'al to saturate the bat to less than itsfull thickness, means for leading a second substantially unsaturated bat of loosely formed fibrous material into contact with said first mentioned bat after the application of satu- 

